The number of people claiming benefits in the UK just dropped to another record low

Just 716,000 people claimed benefits in January, down 18,000 from the same time in the previous month, with the figures now at more than 40-year lows.

The figures also represent a massive beat on the expectations of economists, who had expected claims to fall by half the actual number, and drop by just 9,100.

The number of people claiming benefits in Britain has now fallen by more than 50% in just five years. Here's how that looks:

ONS

Pay growth in the UK also beat expectations, with average earnings rising 2.2% in January, better than the 2.1% expected.

Elsewhere, the UK's unemployment rate stayed flat for the third consecutive month, meeting the expectations of analysts, who expected the rate, which takes the average of that month and the two that preceded it, to come in at 5.1%, the same as December.

Commenting on the data, ONS statistician Nick Palmer said:

"Once again the latest quarterly figures show continuing high employment levels but no significant pick-up in earnings growth."

The last few years have been great for UK jobseekers. Unemployment has fallen from 8% to just over 5% in just three years, and employment has soared.